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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 08/22/2018Parks & Recreation Board EPIC TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR August 22, 2018 07/25/2018 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER Rob Cagan called the meeting to order at 5:38pm 2. ROLL CALL • Board Members Present o Rob Cagan – Chair o Catherine Carabetta – Vice Chair o Kelly Smith – Secretary o Ragan Adams o Jessica MacMillan o Mary Carlson o Bruce Henderson o Bob Kingsbury o Sam Houghteling • Board Members Absent o Mary Carlson (Excused) • Staff Members Present o Mike Calhoon – Director of Parks o Bob Adams – Director of Recreation o Kurt Friesen – Director of Park Planning & Development o Colleen Bannon – Administrative Assistant/Board Support 3. AGENDA REVIEW • No changes announced at the meeting by the Chair 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION Glenn Gray – Nelson Farm HOA Working on the Vibrant Neighborhood Grant to replace the Nelson Farm neighborhood sign with a sign that integrates the Milk House at Spencer Park. Currently, the sign is located on the northeast corner of South Lemay Avenue and Springwood Drive. Suggestions on how to improve the current condition of the Milk House will be incorporated in the final proposal. Board: Are you here to ask for a new sign? Citizen: No, I wanted to let you know we are looking to do more to incorporate the Milk House Board: Is the Milk House owned by the Nelson Farm neighborhood? Citizen: No, it is located in Stewart Park, which is City owned Board: Will you offer suggestions on how to update the Milk House? Citizen: Yes. We would like to replace the current door, replace the staircase and make it safer for visitors to explore Parks & Recreation Board EPIC TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR August 22, 2018 07/25/2018 – MINUTES Page 2 Board: Where will the new sign go? Citizen: Lemay and Springwood, where the existing sign is located Citizen: Are there any concerns or requests from a park and recreation perspective? Board: No. We will wait to hear from the Vibrant Neighborhood Grant board Chris McCullough – Fort Collins Running Club – Tuesday Night Running Club Looking to receive input and direction on issues brought about by the Fort Collins Running Club and the Tuesday Night Running Club. These issues include adding a restroom at the intersection of the Poudre River Trail and Taft Hill Road parking lot, similar to the one at Shields Street, and having a track available for public use other than the one at CSU which is currently under construction, and the track behind the old Fort Collins High School which is not regularly maintained. Board: How much does a restroom cost? Staff: around 200 - 300 thousand dollars Citizen: what about a club sponsored port-a-let? Staff: We will put a port-a-let on the trail Available Public Track Citizen: I have been in touch with CSU, hoping we can rent the track behind the old Fort Collins High School on Tuesday nights, like we have before. Plan B is to do a community outcry. Greeley and Boulder have tracks available for public use. The Poudre School district does a great job letting you rent a track, but there are no “free” public tracks. We have been in touch with UC Health to see if they can help fund a project. A second idea is to use the dirt track behind the old Ft. Collins high school. However, this is not a well-kept track. I am looking for advice/input. Board: What would it take for the university to get the track behind the old high school up to date? Everything is now locked due to multiple conflicts between athletes and the citizens who wanted to use the track. Boulder has a community track. Are they going to keep that track locked? Citizen: Hearing of the community track in Boulder sparked my interest. I wanted to see if this was an option the City of Fort Collins would be open to, and if it was worth pursuing Staff: We are planning on updating our Parks and Recreation Policy Plan in the next year, so this is a great time to bring up this idea. We will begin our outreach in 2019. In the meantime, start some outreach and find out the demand for this. Maybe the City can have a community facility that people outside Fort Collins can use Staff: Present to CSU running club alumni to see if they can donate money. Bring us information that you have scouted out other places that would work for Fort Collins Parks & Recreation Board EPIC TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR August 22, 2018 07/25/2018 – MINUTES Page 3 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JUNE 27, 2018 Spell check on page 4 Clarity regarding recommendation about Refresh Outreach on page 3 Separation of topics on page 5 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None to report 7. NEW BUSINESS Park Refresh Update 1. Provide update on data collection and clarify City Park improvement project Staff: The purpose of collecting data is to get more information on what citizens would like a refresh to include, and what it looks like. To do this, we have prepared a survey. The survey speaks to the character of community parks and helps define a refresh. There are a variety of outreach locations proposed for the survey. Currently, we have around 200 responses. Our goal is to have 300+ responses by mid-September. Board: There should be an article in the Coloradoan, or at least on their online version. This could reach more people by letting them know this survey is available when they are looking at the news. Board: What is the history of the refresh concept? Staff: The refresh concept was introduced approximately 3 years ago as a need for the park system. There is funding for new parks, and limited funding for lifecycle (replacing current structures), but there is no funding for improvements to parks. Council asked us to look-into this and explore, understand, and bring a greater definition to “Refresh”. Board: Is City Park the first park to undergo a Refresh? What is the difference between City Park upgrading and Avery Park? Was Avery Park a Refresh? Staff: For now, the focus of the refresh effort will be on Community Parks. Avery Park was upgraded through a neighborhood grant program. Board: This would be good to put into the Parks and Recreation Policy Plan when you are updating it. Board: Why is the design of the survey used to construct the refresh? It should include how a refresh is funded. Include a question about how the public wants it paid. There is no reason they would not say yes to all of the options on the survey. There is no question about how they pay for it. Demographic questions are interesting. It looks like it only focuses on people who have kids. Parks are for older people, athletes, and more. Not sure why there is no metric on how a park qualifies for a redo. Parks & Recreation Board EPIC TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR August 22, 2018 07/25/2018 – MINUTES Page 4 Staff: This survey is not meant to be all-inclusive. This is the ground floor, the start of the conversation. Ultimately, it is the roll of Council to provide direction regarding funding. The survey is intended to get feedback on what the community thinks a refresh should include. Board: When you’re talking about building brand new elements, how does this not become a new park. Be careful defining what a refresh is and where the money comes from. Board: City Park was built in 1912. Other community parks were built more recent. Soon, other parks will be due for a refresh. Are we going to define refresh and need it in 30 years? It doesn’t answer the big question: Funding. Staff: The triggers for a refresh are primary park trends, and safety concerns. One current trend is Pickleball. We are asking ourselves what do we do about it? A major concern is for safety, especially along the streets. Board: I feel you are missing the opportunity in the survey to discuss funding. Educate the citizens on funding mechanisms. People need to understand that if they want something to be fixed up, they must be willing to pay for it. Board: It must become apparent to Council that they need to do something about a funding source for Parks and Recreation. We must first start with what a refresh is, then we can find a funding source. Board: How can we help you moving forward? Staff: We have a work session to discuss park refresh scheduled for October 30. Let Council know you have heard from Kurt, there was a discussion, and here are your thoughts. It can be a letter with the 10 things the board thinks are critical in a refresh. Board: Do you plan to change the BFO offer, and how likely do you feel your offers will be funded? Staff: I do not plan on changing the City Park BFO offers. The offer is separated into 5 different chunks, so Council could choose what they would like to fund. There is already funding for a phase 1 project, which includes the train. Drone Proposal Staff: We can now write permits for a person who asks to fly a drone in a park. Signs are posted in the future Iron Horse park to allow people to fly drones in that location. Board: Have you talked to the schools about this? Staff: No. Model rocketry went through Council last night. That is the same way the drone proposal will be introduced. We will change from signage to needing a permit if this does not work out. Parks & Recreation Board EPIC TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR August 22, 2018 07/25/2018 – MINUTES Page 5 Board: It is too close to residential areas and other things. Too much development and this will be too invasive. I think there will be a lot of resistance. Staff: I am looking at the inventory of what I have available to me. Board: Is there a safety risk? Any environmental studies, raptor nests? Staff: There is nothing but grass on this property. This is the only location drones can fly. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS No reports on committee activities, or events attended. 9. OTHER BUSINESS Staff Updates Parks Staff Update Parks Department took responsibilities for the Horsetooth and Timberline median, and Vine and Shields median. A new pump has been installed in the Fossil Creek water feature Forestry position is still open Board: Regarding the BFO offers; you were asked to reduce $1.2 million. What does this mean for you? Staff: This will mean a reduction of services I cannot hide from the public. We will need to reduce medians to 2013 standards (remove dead plants and replace with mulch), close restrooms in the winter, and only providing horticulture work in the downtown where we are obligated by our contract with the Downtown Development Authority. I do not know what will be accepted, or not accepted. I have suggested alternative funding sources such as ConTrust money from the Park Planning area that is currently used for trail construction. I have also asked to not be billed for water taps during the off-season. Recreation Staff Updates Brief description of current Recreation updates attached Record number of registrations during Mass Registration August 7 & 9. 645 people took advantage of the reduced rate, and 47% registered online Board: How close are you to self-sufficiency? Staff: There was a slight reduction to our general fund support. We suggested using Recreation Reserves for the next 2 years otherwise we will be cutting programs Parks & Recreation Board EPIC TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR August 22, 2018 07/25/2018 – MINUTES Page 6 Park Planning & Development Staff Updates Brief description of current Park Planning & Development projects attached Discussion: Leader’s Ride Staff: One representative from each Board is invited. The ride starts at Front Range Community College and goes through Safe Routes to School. The ride ends in Loveland. 6-month Council Calendar • Council will be discussing a topic or issue relating to Parks, Recreation and Park Planning and Development between now and the end of the year. It has been suggested board members either attend or watch the Council meetings o September 25: NISP o October 9: 2nd Budget Council Work Session o October 16: 3rd Budget Council Work Session o October 30: Park Refresh o November 6: 2019-20 Budget and Annual Appropriation Ordinance (1st reading) o November 20: 2019-20 Budget and Annual Appropriation Ordinance (2nd reading) Appropriate Board Member Actions (Process and Procedure) Board members to look at current workplan. If a topic or item is of interest, report back and give a brief presentation. Some topics to keep in mind: - Trails - Financing – how we finance parks Encourage Board members to attend Council hearings regarding BFO process. The board typically walks up to the microphone together as a group. This has a huge impact on Council. 10. ADJOURNMENT Meeting Adjourned at 8:46pm